JaeBeom’s day always followed the same structure.

He gets up at 6.30 AM without hesitation after his alarm gets off. He puts on the uniform that was prepared for him in the bathroom. Slowly eats his healthy breakfast that is standing on the eating table and then leaves for school. He stays in school until the late evening arrives and returns home. To conclude his day he eats another warm and healthy meal at 8 PM before turning off the lights and going to bed.

The young male followed this structure religiously since he can remember. There are a few exceptions but most of the time his day looks the same. The government run rules wouldn’t allow for it anyway.

It was a lonely way to live. He is alone when he wakes up and alone when he goes back to sleep. His parents were living separately somewhere else. Somewhere he’s never been to and probably never will be. And school… One would think that school would be the perfect place to form bonds and socialise with people but none of the students ever took interest in any of the other kids. Studying and the perfect grades was the only thing in their minds and so nobody talked during the small breaks between lessons. In fact if one would even raise their voice even so slightly to ask something students would simply glare at that person before going back to their papers. It truly was a lonely life.

JaeBeom, however, grew used to it. He did not know that another way of living could exist. That life wasn’t all studying but also playing and having fun. And so a soft smile forms on his face when he wakes up on that fateful morning when he sees a red dot in the right corner of his vision. An indication that someone reached out and wrote him a message.

Before he could even open the program he knew how the sender had to be. He only received this kind of message from one person. Kim NamJoon.

The younger had somehow found a way to manipulate his electrical interface that was implanted into their brains and randomly got in touch with someone from his school. That someone being JaeBeom. At first he was annoyed by the younger's intrusion into his life but given that he first contacted the elder two months ago he’s rather glad that the younger persisted. He was not sure how or why but the messages between them started to make him feel… better…. in a way. It was hard to pinpoint it. It was weird in a way as they made him feel things he did not know existed in the first place because friendship was not something people around him practiced.

“Maybe I made a mistake yesterday, but yesterday’s me is still me”

JaeBeom stared at the line, not sure what to make of it. The younger often sends him texts that at first glance don’t really make any sense or feel completely random. NamJoon once told him that he sometimes just has those thoughts. Thoughts of the things around them and his role in all this. For the most part it takes JaeBeom a while to understand what the younger means with his sentences. The one today made him stop and wonder too.

Mistakes? There are no mistakes here. You do as you always do and carry on. As a student he cannot really mess up anything in particular and the school program sees to it that the children behave accordingly. So was he talking about an academic mistake he did? But wouldn’t that be too trivial to result in a sentence like this.

“Aren’t we always ourselves? In anyway, it’s too early for this,” the elder replied and finally put his feet out of his bed. The floor beneath his feet felt ice cold which made JaeBeom shiver slightly. Quickly he moved from his small bedroom towards the bathroom. As usual his black uniform was waiting for him there carefully folded and clean. How the cloth got there was still a mystery. A few weeks after getting contacted by NamJoon this was one of the first things they talked about. Neither of them prepared the clothes and neither of them noticed someone entering their flats and seeing them being delivered. The same goes for the clothes they used the day before. In the morning they have disappeared into thin air no matter where they hid them the night before. After staying up for three nights to keep an eye on all this they gave up on solving this mystery as doing that was seriously drowning their energy and made the following school day feel like it was days long. The most frustrating thing about those night long stake outs to watch their clothes was, that if they even closed their eyes for the briefest moment the exchange would have taken place.

“Never too early. How’s your porridge this morning”

JaeBeom reads the message while sitting down on his table where the steaming gray bowl of porridge. He slowly dips his spoon into the sticky mess and lifts it up. His thoughts quickly tipe an answer to the younger while he puts the ever same breakfast into his mouth.

“Healthy… as usual”

“Same”

The elder smiled at that while putting another spoon into his mouth. Dutifully he finished his bowl in time and then left the flat behind to go spend the rest of his day at the school ground. The way to his school wasn’t that long. Twenty minutes by foot which is an absolutely bearable distance or at least that’s what JaeBeom was told. In the end he did not mind. The air around him always has the perfect temperature and on his way to school he’s able to watch some people that cross his way. He likes to imagine the places they’ll go and what they’re thinking of while going there… if they thought of anything particular that is. It’s always hard to tell. With his schoolmates as well.

A boy from his class, who’s name JaeBeom didn’t know, joined him on his way to school that morning. The other did neither utter a greeting nor did he struck any kind of conversation once he started walking next to JaeBeom. Not unusual but more and more JaeBeom wishes that things would be different. That people would talk. Like he and NamJoon do. It was like an ache that he didn’t know he had up until NamJoon had reached out to him.

In complete silence the two boys reached the entrance of the school where they quietly made their way to their class room on the third floor of the big building. The many students they pass didn’t utter a word to either of them as well as to the other kids around them which made the sound of their steps the only sound to be heard in the long corridors.

JaeBeom glanced around in hopes to maybe see NamJoon somewhere in the masses but the younger was nowhere to be found. Maybe had already arrived and was obediently sitting in his seat in the classroom on the second floor. Disappointment settled in JaeBeom’s chest while he entered the room where he’d be spending the next few hours in.

The room was entirely silent as usual. His classmates were sitting eerily still on their respective desks without talking to anyone. JaeBeom quickly crosses the room to take his seat on the window front in one of the middle rows of the classroom. The usual red pill was already sitting on the middle of his table. After he sat down he took the pill in his hands and quickly swallowed it as he usually would.

Knowledge filled his mind which made his head start to feel dizzy. A side effect that was usual with the daily dose that they were fed. The dizziness will stop soon but the knowledge will have to be unlocked and sorted by today's lessons. Simply swallowing the pill will not help you reach academic success as the knowledge you acquired needs to be tended to so that the students would be able to fully remember the slightest details during the final tests at the end of their school year.

The class waited in silence until finally a soft bell sound announced the beginning of the lesson and the teacher entered the room through the door at the front of the classroom. The teacher quickly scanned the room to see if anyone is missing before he finally brought up a virtual screen that showed many mathematical equations.

JaeBeom recognised most of them but also noticed some that he never seen before. However, through the pill he took just a few moments ago he knew that those will be the main subject for that day. Quickly, he accessed a different part of the interface that connected his implant with his vision and made the program take notes for him.

The teacher started to speak and explain how the calculations worked together and how they would function separately. The lesson was dry as usual. The important information was brought forth so that the students were able to use the just learned knowledge in the future.

JaeBeom let his eyes hastily wander through the class. All of them were staring forward to watch the teacher. Their eyes looked glassy. A clear sign that they were deep focused on the current lesson. The boy quickly bit his lips before setting his eyes back to the front where the teacher was still explaining one of the functions of the calculation. He was about to focus on the current subject again when a red symbol appeared on the right corner of his vision.

It was hard not to smile once he noticed the message but he was able to pull it off. Quickly, he opened the message to read what his friend had to say to him during the lessons.

“Ever wondered what would happen if you would not take the pill? Would we not learn at all that day? Sounds like a proper experiment to me”

“You’d risk a lower grade?” JaeBeom answered and didn’t expect an answer back right away but he was mistaken about that.

“What if we would? What’s so great about going to a higher school to continue what we’re currently doing. Don’t you think there should be… I don’t know… more. That we should be more?”

JaeBeom stopped what he was doing and stared at his friend's message. In a way his friend was right and he would be lying if he would say that he hasn’t thought about this in the past as well. Not the pill but the feeling of there having to be more. The thoughts came to him more frequently after the younger had started to contact him. And still… what would that more be? There is no way to leave the set up system. It was unheard off and JaeBeom was not sure if there are ways to go around it anyway. The goal is to have the best grades possible and then go to a higher school to study the field one is destined to work in afterwards. It’s all in the best interest of the community as only a bright student can bring them all a better life. Or at least that’s what they were all told when they started their academic path years ago.
 

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“I feel like walking. Would you come with me?”

Kim NamJoon asked through a message when their school day slowly but surely came to an end. JaeBeom, who had been glad for the distraction from his current lesson gladly. With a quick glance at the digital clock embedded in his vision he noticed that his school day was almost over. Quickly, he answered his friend: “Not too long. Not sure what would happen if we’re caught”

“As long as we talk through the messenger I doubt anything will happen. What will they do? Punish two students that walk home in the same direction?”

“You live on the other side of the district… that’s one walk home,” JaeBeom replied while impatiently staring at the time on his vision. Only two more minutes to go.

“I wait for you outfront. I won’t accept a no”
 

A soft smile stole itself on JaeBeom’s face after reading the last message from his friend. And not long after the bell rang that indicated the end of the day.

Like the other students JaeBeom bowed to the teacher before standing up and slowly moving towards the door. The crowd that swallowed him was quiet as usual and carried him out of the big building where they all split into different directions.

JaeBeom’s eyes wandered around until his eyes landed on another boy that was waiting close to the entrance. The boy wore the same black uniform as he did but something looked slightly different about it, though the elder could not pinpoint as to what it was exactly.

The elder quietly stood next to the other and then without agreeing to it they started to move into the same direction side by side. The younger silently indicated if they had to change direction but in general no communication in this part was needed.

The direction they walked into wasn’t leading to either of their homes which made JaeBeom’s heart beat slightly faster in excitement. He never has seen any other part of his town before and he was curious how this part would look like. To his big disappointment did the buildings around him in the new area look exactly the same as the ones he grew up in. If not for the numbers that would mark the tall buildings and the streets it would have been incredibly easily to lose one's way and never find their way back home. A shiver went down JaeBeom’s spine when he imagined cluelessly wandering around in the hopes to find the building where his flat was located in… but never would be able to do so.

“Does your area look like this too? Are all parts of our city looking the exact same?” he asked the younger. The other must have instantly read the message as he began to softly nod. A response came back promptly as well: “Pretty much. Sometimes I wonder why? Don’t you sometimes too, Hyung?”

JaeBoem kept silent about this. He cannot say that he ever had wondered about this as the only places he knew he had seen on his way from his flat to school. Seeing how almost identical this area looked to his own, however, made him feel small and in a way frightened. He definitely was outside of his comfort zone here.

He just wanted to take another step forward but NamJoon instantly took a hold on his wrist and pulled him back. In a hasty movement he pushed the elder to the wall that separated the street from the building next to them. The younger held a finger to his mouth to signal JaeBeom that he needed to be even quieter than usual before he carefully glanced around the corner. Quickly he pulled back again and pressed himself next to JaeBeom to the wall.

“There are bots in the other street. I don’t think they’ve seen us. Let’s go back and take another turn. I don’t want to see what they’ll do if they catch us wandering around”

JaeBeom’s eyes widened. Bots? Around this time? Weren’t they supposed to be patrolling around the blocks once the light leaves the sky? Why are they on the streets this early?

Before JaeBeom was able to even direct all those questions to his friend he was pulled after the other back down the street they’ve come from. Their steps echoed loudly through the silent streets and they hoped that the bots were too far away to have picked up on the noise. Luck, however, didn’t seem to be on their side as a bright light instantly began to flash behind them.

In a rush they turned a corner and then another. The bots were closely following and got closer and closer as their lights made the boy’s shadows grow longer and longer. JaeBeom turned another corner and pulled NamJoon with him. Too late, however, he noticed that the street he chose ended in a dead end.

“Sh*t!” the younger muttered next to him and started to frantically look around. JaeBeom did the same but as far as he could see there was no way out of this. They were trapped.

Behind them they hear the sound of wheels come to a hold. A quick glance back showed that three ball-like bots were blocking their way out of the dead end. Their ‘head’ was whirling around itself and illuminated the surrounding with bright light.

“STUDENTS MUST GO HOME IMMEDIATELY AFTER SCHOOL! YOU BROKE RULE 7546 OF OUR CITY. PLEASE FOLLOW STAY WHERE YOU ARE UNTIL YOUR HOME ARRIVES. THE CONSEQUENCES FOR DISOBEDIENCE WILL BE PUBLICLY ANNOUNCED IN YOUR SCHOOL. YOUR TEST RESULTS WILL BE AFFECTED BY THIS MISBEHAVIOUR!” a shrill electronic sounding voice announced through their speakers. The sound of the bot's voice and the meaning of its words made JaeBeom’s heart sink. This will affect his test result in the end of the year… that pretty much will guarantee that he has no chance in getting into any of the highest schools that he originally had planned on going too. But there was also NamJoon’s question from before:

What’s so great about going to a higher school to continue what we’re currently doing. Don’t you think there should be… I don’t know… more. That we should be more?

He quickly looked at the younger. NamJoon, however, was starring right past him where JaeBeom knew for a fact that there was only a wall. The expression on his face was unreadable for JaeBeom. Was he horrified or at awe? He couldn't tell. This strange behaviour of the younger made JaeBeom curious as to what the other was seeing.

JaeBeom gathered all his courage and turned around as well to see what the other was looking at. He expected to see the blank gray wall that is all too common in the city. He did not expect to see what he saw there tho. The wall showcased something that JaeBeom later learned to be a Mural. Unknown colours shone brightly on the wall and formed forms and patterns he has never seen before In the middle of it were two lines of text clearly readable:
 

“Your wings already exist. All you have to do is Fly!”

“Don’t disappear because you are one great existence!”

NamJoon tightly gripped JaeBeom’s wrist which made JaeBeom turn his attention to the younger. When the younger didn’t look like he’s going to say anything after taking hold of JaeBeom he turned back towards the mural. To his utter surprise the bright colours as well as the text began to fade in front of his eyes until only the blank gray wall was left standing.

"What the hell was that?” the younger whispered and pushed himself closer to JaeBeom so that only the elder could hear what he’d spoken. JaeBeom, who was at a loss for words simply shook his head. It was at that moment when four tall looking men appeared. Their home was here.
 

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The consequences for not going home right away somehow seemed to include no dinner. When he entered his flat no delicious smell of warm food filled the air which instantly made his stomach growl. With a big sigh he walked into the bathroom to change from his school uniform into his pyjamas.

He quickly washed his face and then decided to go to bed right away to bring this day to an end as soon as possible. The young student was already on his way into his bedroom when he noticed a new red symbol on the right corner of his vision. He had expected that NamJoon would reach out to him but he now had neither the will nor the energy to talk to the younger.

With a simple blink of his eyes and the will to delete the message he made the red symbol disappear. Believing that this would have been the last he’d seen of this for that day he laid himself on his soft mattress and pulled the fluffy cover over his tired body. While moving around to find the perfect and most comfortable spot to sleep in he quickly opened his eyes again and noticed another red symbol in the right corner of his vision. Again he quickly deleted it but to his surprise another one instantly showed up again.

“NamJoon-ah! Let me sleep!” He pleaded and hoped that the conversation was over but instantly he received another reply.

“Sorry to disappoint but I’m not your friend,” the message read which instantly made JaeBeom sit upright. Someone else than NamJoon was contacting him? How but most of all… why?

“You’ve seen something strange today, am I right. A writing on a wall I mean,” the other person wrote to which JaeBeom quietly stared at the message. How did that person know about the wall? Only NamJoon and the bots were there and the bots do not see as humans do… or at least he thought that they don’t. Maybe one of the people living in the buildings? The light might have caused a big enough disturbance for them to rush towards their windows and look out of it.

“I take your lack of answer as a yes. As usual. What you’ve seen is a sign that things are changing for you. Know that I’m not here to harm or frighten you but to guide and help,” the other person continued, to which JaeBeom stared blankly into space. Things will change for him? What was that supposed to mean? This smelled like trouble. Big trouble that could cost him his future as whatever the community needs him to be.

“What if I tell you that the world you’re living in is only a part of something much much bigger. That there is a place where you can be whatever you want to be. Let me tell you a bit about it and show you what your life could be like. What you could be. In the end it’ll be your decision if you take the chance or if you want to stay as you are right now and live the life someone else want you to live”

JaeBeom’s heart began to beat faster. Was this the thing that had been missing all along? Was this the ‘More’ NamJoon had talked about? It sure sounded promising enough. The young student took in a deep breath before he let his mind type out his next message: “Who are you?”

“I’m a simple guide but you can call me JinYoung if you like”